Finally got a reading and I have some more questions!

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Gummers

Member Since 2013
I'm elated. After two days of trying I finally got enough blood for a reading and what's better, Bob didn't even appear to notice he'd been pricked! I had been lancing by hand and each time was a nightmare struggle. :( Hiding under the bed, avoiding me, blood getting everywhere except on the strip. I decided to use the lancing device that came with the monitor instead, despite both vets telling me it wouldn't work. I heated the ear using a sock with rice and had the kids hold treats out for him. I set the device on a shallow setting. I swear he didn't even notice and I got enough blood for a sample. Whole process took about a minute. I'm so relieved as I had been feeling defeated all weekend. After the test, he didn't even move from his spot!

Questions:

1) What human food are acceptable treats? There is only one low carb treat (ziwipeak) that I can find in Dubai and my cat doesn't like them.

2) What is the best course of action for long vacations? I am going back to Canada from July 12 - August 10th. I can't take the cat with me because of import/export laws.

I have a former vet who will be coming in to take care of the cats daily, but she is only coming 1 time per day and only staying about 45 minutes. She is willing to give insulin injections but can't be there to monitor bg. I might be able to convince her to take a bg reading before injecting, but I doubt she will do it more than 1x per week. I realize the advice you give here is based on minimal info about my cat and I intend to talk to my vet about this as well. I just like knowing what you guys suggest because I think this board likely has more experience than my vet.
 
Hey, that's awesome! Congrats!! :-D

1) I don't have heaps of ideas for treats, but just maybe you could look at 'dried fish/shrimp' type things (human food) from Asian grocery stores? I'm not sure what's available where you are, but I have seen some things in those shops here that could be ok for cat treats... do make sure they are just fish/whatever though!! Some have a lot of added salt, I know :cry: Not sure of the carb content though, sorry. Or maybe just a teaspoon of his normal food?

2) I just posted this in reply to another member, but may be of interest to you too...
Vacations - for holidays, maybe you could try some kind of vet boarding facility?? Or ask a vet you trust if they can recommend any vet nurses/staff who cat sit and can look after the cat occasionally? (as a past pet-sitter myself, I would suggest carefully screening any potential sitters and see how the cat gets along with them, and you might also want to offer 'extra' in terms of payment and the vet info and a separate trusted local emergency contact who knows the details of the cat's care, as it is quite a big responsibility to care for an animal needing ongoing medical attention/treatment. just a thought :smile: )

Whatever you end up doing, I would definitely make sure you have a few proper practice runs with the holiday carer and you and Bob Before leaving them in charge - make sure to run through all the steps of both BG testing and giving shots at least a couple of times, and DO write all the steps down logically and clearly and leave them with the gear for the carer - this can help so much, as it is easy for someone not used to the routine to forget something (when I was petsitting, I always made sure to do this myself, if the owner had not provided that info). Hope that may help :)
 
Congratulations on getting that first BG test! Glad to here that the lancing pen worked great for you and bob didn't even notice. ;-) Welcome to the vampire club!


Some other low carb treat ideas would be any type of pure meat, either raw or cooked. Try some plain chicken or turkey. Ground beef or pork or lamb. Anything plain meat without added spices should be fine.
 
Congratulations on getting that first BG test! Glad to here that the lancing pen worked great for you and bob didn't even notice. ;-) Welcome to the vampire club!


Some other low carb treat ideas would be any type of pure meat, either raw or cooked. Try some plain chicken or turkey. Ground beef or pork or lamb. Anything plain meat without added spices should be fine.
 
Hi there,

Many of us offer freeze dried chicken treats to our cats. I found this on a Dubai website..http://www.dubaipetfood.com/shop/thrive-100%-chicken-4398p.html but you could also just grill chicken and give small pieces.

For your vacation, maybe ask the vet if a tech can come round to test/shoot twice a day? Or a friend? Or a pet sitting service? I found this service and they seem to also give shots.. http://www.petsittingdubai.com/services.html#s5. If the person coming round can't test then I would reduce the dose a bit to be safe.

Wendy
 
Great job on getting a test! Another thing about treats...maybe Bob would like some playtime or a good brushing? Just a thought - otherwise I'd be cooking up some plain meat, as suggested.
 
if you cannot find any pet treats that only contain 1 item - meat - be it chicken, beef, lamb, fish, etc. then as already suggested, you can make your own treats - you can cut up pieces of chicken and feed it raw (uncooked) some cats need to learn to eat raw meat. I have one who won't touch it - go figure.

If you want to give him small bones to eat, you can grind them or serve them with the meat on it, just be sure that this is served raw only as cooked bones can splinter and be dangerous when swallowed.

you can also cook the meat by boiling, grilling, baking, etc. and serve without the bones of course.

you may find in your markets dried meats (almost like jerky) that you could use - just make sure it doesn't have added spices.
 
For the petsitter(s), freeze a bunch of the plain meat or poultry treats in small batchesn You'll be gone long enough that meat left in thye refrigerator could spoil.
 
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